Lapping machine



June 14, 1932. w. D. RUNDLETT LAPPING MACHINE Filed April 4, 1 950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 14, 1932.

w. D. RUNDLETT 1,862,984

LAPPING N'IACHINE' 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed April 4, 1930 2 Patented June 14,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I 1 WIL IAM 1). nouns-Err, or ivorvrn Anmv s, MAssAcHusn'r'rs, iss'sreivo'a 'ro wean-lass HUNTER MACHINE COMPANY, or no'a'rrr ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS, A coaronn rioiv or messacriusnrrs LAPIPING MACHINE Application filed April 4,

Tn a machine-of this type the fleece from the fleece-forming machine, usually a card,

is discharged by means of a delivery apron upon the upper surface of a second apron 5 running transversely at right angles tov the first, the second apron bein mounted on a carriage which is traversed bodily at right angles to the direction of motion of said sec- 0nd apron so that the fleece becomes laid upon the second apron in plies extending trans' versely of the second apron; the latter has a progressive feed-movement by means of which the lap as formed is fed off therefrom and Wound into a roll.

The invention relates more particularly to the means for imparting the progressivefeedmovement to the fleece receiving apron on which the lapis formed. 7

A Cu'stomarily in practice'thisapr'on is given a progressive feed-movement through the agency of mechanical devices which are actuated by the traversing movements of :the apron carriage. Themechanismsheretofore employed have been found to present serious drawbacks Which latter the present invention is intended to obviate. Among the more familiar devices for imparting the feed-movement to this apron has been mechanism pivotally attached or linked to the floor over 0 which the traversing carriage moves back and forth. Such arrangements have proved undesirable on account of their being in,the Way, and also being liable to inflict serious .4 j injury from their nature and location they have not been capable of being protected by guards. Further, many prior devices have usually eI'n-.- ployed only a small portion of the entire travj ersing movement of the carriage to eilect the feed of the apron, so that the feeding movementoi' the apron tain and uneven. Also, in changing from long to short traversing movements'ot the F carriage, or vice versa, to change the width of the bat being formed, a corresponding change linked mechanism in order'to keep the'rate of feed of the apron andconsequently the thick- Vlr ness of; the bat properly adjusted.

" tion, the rate of feed-movement of the fleeceupon the machine attendant, since has sometimes been uncerhas had to be made in the pivoted or v In addi-,

1930. Serial No. 441,629.

receiving apron could be adjusted over only a relatively narrow range of variations, correspondingly limiting the variation capable of being made in the lap or bat produced on the machine. I

The purposes of the present invention include the provision of means for driving the transversely-moving apron Without the use of devices attached to the floor, so as to (511minate the risk of injury imposed by such latter devices upon the operator in Working about the running machine. The aims of the invention also include thea'voidance of: the other limitations just detailed above,- arid-in generalinclude the provision of a novel, efiicient, adaptable, and improved means of imparting the traversing movement.

The inventionconsists in the combination With'the traversing carriage supporting thelap-receiving apron, and the runvvaynpo Which the carriage moves back'andforth, of

a wheel in engagement With the said runWa-y,,=' caused by the traversing movements of said carriage to travel along said runway, and'because of saidengagement receiving rotation which is thence transmitted through connections intermediate said wheel and said apronto impart a progressive feed-movement to the apron.

-An' illustrative embodiment of the inven-- tion is shown in the accompanying drawings, iii-connection with portions of the traversing carriage, only so much of the latter being shown as is essential to an understanding of the application of the invention} In the drawings;- I Fig. 1 is an end elevation of certainofthe having the parts of a traversing carriage, invention applied thereto, looking in the direction of movement of the carriage, one of the driving ratchets being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of certain o fthe' parts shown in Fig. 1 with portionsthe'r'oit ale?) in section. a X

Fig. 3 is a view in section on line 3' 3 of Fig, l, and on a larger scale thanFigs. 1 and 2, of one of the driving ratchets. a

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of ratchet, on line 4 & of Fig. 3.

said driving Fig. 5 is a view in vertical section on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a piar of the intermediate gears in the train driving the apron, showing the manner of removably securing one of the change-gears.

Figs. 7 and 8 are side and end views, respectively, of a movable collar which is used in connection with one of the ratchets to provide means for rendering it inoperative upon occasion.

Referring to the drawings At 1 is indicated a portion of the frame of the traversing carriage, the upper surface of the apron upon which the fleece is piled to form the lap being indicated at 2. The roll 3 upon which the lap is wound after having been formed has its shaft 4 disposed in the vertical slot 5 formed in the frame 1. To support the carriage with capacity for movement toward and from the card or other fleece-producing machine, it is mounted upon one or more wheels 6 engaging with the floor or other stationary runway, rotatably held in bearings at the lower ends of brackets 7, 7, combined with the frame 1 by means of bolts 8.

The invention utilizes the rotation of one of the wheels 6 derived from its rolling back and forth as the carriage is traversed, to impart feed-movement to the laterally moving apron 2 in the direction indicated by the arrow A of Fig. 1, for the purpose of slowly feeding the accumulated lap or bat laterally as the fleece is piled in layers thereupon to the proper or desired thickness. To derive the driving motion from the wheel 6 arrangement is made to cause said wheel to be positively driven.

This may be effected in any suitable or desired manner, the use of gear-engagement between the wheel and the surface upon which it rolls being an effective way of accomplishing such end.. Herein, the wheel 6 is provided with teeth 9 in its periphery which engage with corresponding holes in the horizontal portion of an angle-iron secured to the floor beneath the traversing carriage. Thus the angle-iron 1O constitutes a rack, and the wheel 6 a pinion engaging therewith and driven positively by said rack as the travers ing carriage moves back and forth. The wheel 6 is fixed upon a shaft 11 rotating in the bearings 12, 12, aforesaid at the lower ends of brackets 7, 7, and in a bearing formed for it and extending through a member 13.

Fig. 5, that is secured by bolt 14 to a bracket 15 attached to an arm 16 depending from the frame 1, to which it is afiixed by bolts For the purpose of securing a progressive feeding motion for the apron 2 from both the forward and reverse rotations of shaft 11' as the traversing carriage comes forward and recedes, there is combined with said shaft a pair of driving ratchets, one driving upon the forward rotations of such shaft and the other driving during the reverse rotations thereof. These ratchets have their driven members 18 respectively fixedly combined with bevel-gears 19, 19, rotatably mounted upon the shaft 11, and both of such bevelgears engage with a bevel-gear 20, transmitting rotation in a single direction to the shaft 21 of the cylinder 210 around which the apron 2 travels and by which it is driven.

These driving clutches are of novel and improved design and comprise the driven member or outer shell 18 which is internally toothed as indicated in Fig. 4, and a pawl 22 which is rotatably mounted upon apin 23, secured by a clamping screw 26 in a hub 24 also upon the shaft 11. In the event that it is desired to contrive the device of the invention so as to drive the apron upon traverse of the traversing carriage in both of its directions, the hub 24 of each ratchet is keyed fixedly to the shaft 11 as indicated by the key 25 in connection with the left-hand ratchet of Fig. 1. lVith this arrangement one or other of the pawls acts to drive the bevelgear in the same counterclockwise direction at each passage of the wheel forward or back along its track 10. For certain purposes, as when a lap of increased thickness is to be formed, it may be desired to arrange the parts with capacity for discontinuing the action of one pawl, so that the apron 2 will be fed only during one direction of travel of the traversing carriage, the apron remaining stationary during the reverse movement thereof. This affords a simple and easy means of cutting down the feed upon occasion. In this event, one of the ratchets will be arranged as shown in Fig. 3, and as the right-hand ratchet of Fig. 1 is portrayed, with the key omitted, allowing the hub 24 to turn freely with respect to the shaft 11; a pin 23 of greater length than is used to support the pawl in the left-hand ratchet will be substituted therefor so that it will project outwardly from the hub 24 to the extent indicated at 230 in the sectional view of the right-hand ratchet, Fig. 3. A collar 27, Figs. 7 and 8, is applied to the shaft 11, splined thereto to turn in unison therewith at all times and slidable' upon the shaft to bring the pin 230 into or out of one of the notches 28 formed in a flange 29 on said collar. A thumb screw 30 threaded into the collar 27 to bear against the key 31 fitted into the shaft 11, serves to hold the collar in adjusted position either in or out of engagement with the protruding end of the pin 230. It will be apparent from this construction described that with the hub 24 loose upon the shaft 11 and the collar 27 out of engagement with the pin 230 no driving motion will be transmitted to the hub 24, its pawl 22, its driven member or outer shell 18, and its bevel-gear 19; the advancing of the apron will be effected only during the rotation of wheel 6 in one direction of its travel when the other pawl and ratchet at the extreme end of shaft 11 performs its function. When it is desired to reinstate the action of the right-hand driving ratchet, the clamping screw 30 will be loosened to permit the collar 27 to be engaged with the end of the pin 230, the clamping screw again tightened to hold the collar 27 in this position and the hub 24 with its pawl 23 will be caused to move in unison with the shaft 11 and to act in its proper turn to feed the apron 2 along.

A feature of the driving ratchet is the provision of means for controlling the pawl 22 to withdraw it from contact with the ratchet teeth on the inside of the driven member 18 during its idle period of relative motionwith respect to said. teeth. The bevel-gear 19 which fits rotatably upon the shaft 11 has a hub 32 which extends along said shaft within the driven member 18, and upon which the said member is secured; and upon the end of this hub is fitted with capacity for free revolution a member 33 occupying the hollow interior of the driven member 18. A radial projection 34 is formed upon this member 33 to engage the nose 35 of the pawl 22 and di-- rect it into engagement with the internal teeth on the driven member 18, as shown in Fig.

4 in solid lines. The member 33 has also a hooked arm which is adapted to engage the square rearward end 37 of'the pawl 22 at a point farther removed radially from the axis of the shaft 11 than the center of pin 23 about which the pawl rocks. The member 33 is friction ally engaged with the exterior of the hub upon which it rotates, by means of a friction block 38 of fiber or other suitable material which occupies a suitable radial cavity 39, closed at its outer end, formed in the member 33, the friction block being pressed into frictional engagement with hub 32 by means of a. s ring 40 compressed benween'said. block ant the closed outer end of this cavity. The member 33 thus constitutes a friction drag tending to follow the movements of the bevel-gear 19 and driven member 18. WVhen the shaft 11 is rotated in the.

driving direction. for the pawl 22, the pawl is rotated around shaft 11, with its end 3 foremost. which endstrikes the radial proection. 34 upon the drag member 33 and is diverted thereby radially outward into engagement with the internal teeth on the driven member 18, causing the latter and its attached bevel-gear 19 to be rotated and thereby to drive the bevel-gear 20 in counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1, feeding the apron 2 forward a predetermined increment of its travel. When the shaft 11 is rotated in its opposite direction, the pawl is move reversely about the axis of shaft 11, which brings its'square rearward end 37 into contact with the extremity of the hooked arm 36 of the lagging drag member 33. Because the push delivered to the ratchet by contact with the member 36 is applied at a greater distance radially from the axis of shaft 11 than the distance from said axis to the center on which the ratchet pivots, i. e.-, the axis of pin 23, the nose 35 of the ratchet 22 is tipped radially inward away from and out of'contact with the internal teeth on the driven member 18, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

By reason of the described construction the novel driving ratchet of the invention has theadvantage of being noiseless in its idle movement, as well as being positive in its action when moved in feeding direction. The bevel-gear 20 is mounted for free rotation upon a stud 41 in connection with the member 13, Fig. 5, and has a long hub 42 upon which is fixed by clamping screw 43 a sprocket 44. Special means for lubricating the bearing surface of said hub upon the stud 41 are provided comprising the oil-hole 45 extending diagonally down through the stud to a point about midway of the length of said hub, and starting from a point at the upper side of the stud outwardly of said sleeve. A collar 46, applied by clamping screw 47, is employed to retain the bevel-gear 20 upon the stud, and said collar is formed with an oil-cup 48 having an outlet which is aligned with the upper end of the oil-hole 45.

Any appropriate or desired means may be employed to transmit the drive from bevelgear 20 to the shaft 21 of the cylinder around whichthe apron 2 travels and through which the apron is driven. Herein is illustrated a system of reduction gears, sprockets, and chains, comprising the aforesaid sprocket 44, connected by a chain to a sprocket 5O fixed upon the hub of a sprocket 51 turning freely on a stud 52. The said sprocket 51 iscombined by a chain with a fourth sprocket 53,

on the hub of which is mounted a spur-gear 54 meshing with a gear 55 keyed upon the shaft 21 driving the apron 2.

A novel feature of this driving train is the means providing for rapid and easy change of the gear-ratio determining the relative speed at which the apron 2 is driven. The relative speed of lateral travel of the apron determines the thickness of the lap or bat formed thereupon, and is varied to suit the thickness of bat required for different purposes. It is to be noted that the sprocket 53 is mounted for rotation upon a stud 56, Fig. 6, that is fixed in a radius arm 57 Figs. 1 and 6, that is secured between a collar 58, Fig. 5, on the stud 52 and the arm 16 with capacity to be swung about the axis of stud 52. The sprocket 53 is provided with an eccentric pin iot 59 or other easily disengaged connection for v d causing the gear 54 to rotate in unison with To hold the said gear upon the hub of the sprocket 53 in easily removable relation, the end of the stud 56 is slotted and a key 60, Fig. 6, is combined therewith by means of a pin 62 fixed in the end of the stud, intersecting the slot therein and passing through a slot 61 in the key 60. One corner of the key 60 is rounded off as shown, to permit it to be swung from the transverse position shown in full lines in Fig. 6, wherein it holds the gear 54 in place on the hub of the sprocket, to that shown in dotted lines, wherein it permits said gear to be drawn off axially from said hub for replacement of a gear of a different number of teeth, to change the ratio and the resulting relative speed of the apron.

Incidentally the key 60 in either position maintains the sprocket 58 in place upon its stud 56, as the key is of slightly greater width than the diameter of the stud.

The stud 56 is mounted upon the radius arm 57 to simplify the change of ratio, as this permits the substitution of gears of different numbers of teeth and hence of difierent diameters upon said stud without making necessary a corresponding change of the gear 55 on the apron driving shaft 21., since the stud may be brought nearer or removed farther from the shaft 21 by adjustment of said radius arm, as may be required to bring a gear of any diameter into engagement with gear 55. In the illustrative arrangement shown herein, the radius arm 57 is maintained in adjusted position to keep the gears 54 and 55 properly enmeshed, by means of a bolt 63 passing through a slot in the radius arm and through a slot 64 in a member 65 secured in spaced relation to the frame 1 at 66.

The combination of this improved driving train with the ratchets of which one may be rendered inoperative, provides a driving organization which is extremely flexible in permitting a great number of adjustments to produce laps of any desired thickness. Rendering one of the ratchets inoperative reduces the rate of feed of the apron by one-half, and it is obvious that a great number of combinations may be effected to vary the gear ratio in the train by the interchange of the paired sprockets which are engaged by the respective chains, as well as by the substitution of various sized gears for the one indicated at 54, as described.

The lap or bat as formed and fed by the apron 2 is wound upon the roll 3, which is driven through frictional engagement of its surface or the surface of the bat wound thereon with the apron where the latter passes over the cylinder 210 and also by its engagement with the slatted drum 211 mounted on shaft 212 in the frame 1 of the machine. The slatted drum 211 is driven at the same or slightly greater speed as the cylinder 210 by means of sprockets (not shown) upon the respective shafts 21 and 211, and a chain connecting such sprockets.

A valuable feature'of the invention is that the full travel of the carriage is utilized to feed the apron, instead of only a portion of its full travel as heretofore. The driving mechanism is really a reducing device, and through gearing down the ample motion received from the rotation of the wheel 6 in rolling back and forth along the track gives a smoother and more powerful feeding action than has been attained before. The apparatus uses no parts which are attached to the floor or which have to be adjusted as to their relative position in order to permit actuation of the apron following a change in the length of traverse imparted to the carriage for the purpose of modifying the width of the lap being formed. Further, there are no parts of the feed motion attached to the floor to be in the way and en danger the attendant in working around the running machine. The upstanding flange of the angle-iron may be eliminated, and the track may be set flush with the surface of the floor. The devices of the present invention provide a feed-motion which is not limited as to the width of the traversing carriage to which it may be applied, thus making possible the use of carriages wider than any that could be employed with prior apron feeding mechanisms.

If desired, all the apron driving parts of the invention can be completely enclosed by guards to attain complete safety for the attendant. By eliminatin working parts attached to the floor which are liable to trip and injure the attendant, however, the de gree of safety in operation attained by the invention tends to render unnecessary such enclosing of the driving parts by guards.

YVhile I have illustrated and described only one form in which the invention may be carried into effect, it is obvious that many changes in the construction and arrangement of parts may be made by one skilled in the arts without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed as my invention and is desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is,

1. In a lap-forming machine, the combination with a traversing carriage, and a batreceiving apron thereon traveling with the carriage to form the lap, and relatively thereto to wind the lap into a roll, of a stationary runway, a spiked wheel upon said carriage engaging with apertures in said runway, and means for feeding the apron progressively in one direction through motion derived from the rotation of said wheel in rolling back and forth upon said runway, said means being contrived to be set to feed the apron through rotation of such wheel in one or both directlons.

the teeth in one direction, and withdraw-,

ing the pawl out of contact therewith upon reverse rotation.

3. In a lap-forming machine, the combina tion with a traversing carriage, and a batreceiving apron thereon, of a stationary track, a wheel upon the carriage rotated through engagement with said track, and a ratchet having pawl-carrying member and a member provided with ratchet teeth, one of said members turning in unison with said wheel and the other in driving connection with said apron, and having also a pawlcontrolling member causing the pawl to engage the ratchet teeth upon relative rotation of the aforesaid members in one direction, and withdrawing the pawl out of contact therewith upon reverse rotation.

4. A lap-forming machine having in combination a traversing carriage, a bat-receiving apron thereon, a stationary support, mechanism combining the carriage with the support and actuated through relative movement of the carriage with respect to such support to impart a progressive feed-movement to the apron, such mechanism including a gear rotatably mounted on a stud having a slot in its extremity, a pin fixed in the stud intersecting the slot, and a key retained in such slot by the pin and adapted to be positioned transversely to the axis of the stud to hold the gear thereon, and to be aligned with said axis to permit removal of the gear.

5. In a lap-forming machine, the combination with a traversing carriage, and a batreceiving apron thereon, of a stationary runway, a wheel upon said carriage rotated through engagement with said runway, and a driving train intermediate said wheel and said apron including a gear, and a support for said gear comprising a stud having a slot in its extremity, a pin fixed in said stud intersecting said slot, and a key retained in said slot by said pin and adapted to be positioned transversely to the axis of the stud to hold said gear thereon, and to be aligned with said axis to permit removal of said gear.

6. A lap-forming machine having in combination a traversing carriage, a bat-receiving apron thereon, a stationary support, mechanism combining the carriage with the support and actuated through relative movement of the carriage with respect to such sup port to impart a progressive feed-movement to the apron, such mechanism including a gear rotatably mounted on a stud having a slot in its extremity, a pin fixed in the stud intersecting the slot, and a key retained in such slot by the pin and adapted to be positioned transversely to the axis of the stud to hold the gear thereon, and to be aligned with said axis to permit removal of the gear, the stud being mounted upon a radius arm'to permit its position to be changed to accommodate gears of various diameters.

7 A lap-forming machine having in combination a traversing carriage, a bat-receiving apron thereon, a stationary support, mechanism combining the carriage with the support and actuated through relative movement of the carriagewith respect to such support to impart a progressive feed-movement to the apron, and including a gear-train of which one gear is mounted upon a radius arm to facilitate substitution therefor of gears of various diameters.

8. A lap-forming machine having in combination a traversing carriage, a bat-receiving apron thereon, a stationary support, mechanism combining the carriage with the support and actuated through relative movement of the carriage with respect to such support to impart a progressive feed-movement to the apron, and including a gear-train of which one gear is adapted to be mounted upon a stud in connection with a movable support upon the carriage, to permit the position of the stud to be changed to accommodate gears of various diameters.

9. In a lap-forming machine, the combination with a traversing carriage, and a batreceiving apron thereon, of a stationary track having spaced apertures therein, a wheel travelling with the carriage having spikes to enter such apertures and positively driven by the relative movements of the traversing carriage, and connections intermediate such spiked wheel and the apron for transforming the rotary movements of the spiked wheel into a progressive feed-movement of the apron, the spiked wheel cooperating in supporting the carriage for easy movement in its traverse.

WILLIAM D. RUN DLETT.

CERTIFICATE OF (IGRREGTION.

PatentNo. 1,862,984. June 14, 1932.

WILLIAM B. RUNDLETT.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above-numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 1, before line 1 insert the following paragraph- The present invention has relation in general to lapping or bat-iormmg machines, and to the means for imparting a progressive feed-movement to the traversing apron of a lapping machine on which the fleece is accumu lated to form the lap. The invention is applicable more particularly to iapping machines of the Blamires type.

; page 2, line 3, for "piar" read pair; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 11th day of October, A. I). 1932.

M. J. Moore, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

